The On the 1st of February 2002, 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam was at home with her two brothers.

Her dad, Damon Van Dam, looked after the kids while his wife, Brenda, spent the Friday evening out drinking with some of her friends.

At about half-past ten that night, Damon tucked Danielle into bed.

She fell asleep quickly, and shortly afterwards, Damon went to bed himself

until he was woken up in the early morning hours by Brenda returning home.

While coming in the house, Brenda noticed that somebody had left a small side door

that led into the house's garage open, and one of the lights on their alarm system was flashing

after being set off. But Brenda didn't think much of it, because Damon had been home the whole

time. The four girlfriends that she was out drinking with, she brought them home

with her, and Damon and Brenda stayed up talking with the group for a while before saying goodnight

and going to bed. Damon had a disrupted sleep that night and woke up again at about 3.30 a.m.

Again, he noticed that one of the alarm systems lights were flashing. He investigated

what might have set the alarm off and discovered that the door to the backyard was wide open.

He closed the door and went back to sleep. The next morning, Damon and Brenda went to check on

their children. The two boys had slept through the night, but Danielle's

bed was empty. There was no sign of her in the house or backyard. So at 9.39 that morning, the Van

Vandams called 911 in a panic, telling the operator that their seven-year-old daughter was missing.

The community in the neighborhood of Sabre Springs, San Diego,

pulled together in an attempt to reunite Danielle with their family. Large groups of volunteers

combed the area, searching along the highways in the nearby desert for any sign of the missing

child. Meanwhile, Saber Springs law enforcement systematically interviewed everyone in Daniel's neighborhood.

That morning, all the neighbors were home except for one, a 49-year-old engineer named David

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